South Region

The last couple of months have been interesting to say the least. First, the weather has been unusually warm for us as well as the fish. The warm water seems to have thrown off some of the patterns. We haven't seen the strong numbers of sailfish that we have in previous years. Even though, we're still getting at least one to two shots on most trips with some effort and patience. On other ...full report

Lately fishing off Islamorada has been outstanding! We are catching Mahi of all sizes consistently every day. Along with the Mahi we have been catching Black fin Tunas, Wahoo, large Amberjacks, and Sailfish. There have been other boats in the fleet that have had shots at Blue Marlin. We are waiting on our shot. We have seen a few swimming around lazily on the surface but none that were ready to ...full report

I couldn’t ask for a better way to end the year than fishing with long time clients all of last week. Fishing guides can measure success in many ways but one of the barometers that I trust the most is customer loyalty. Every time I get a call or email from a past client booking their next trip I feel a great deal sense of accomplishment. Now let’s get right to the action. December was a crazy ...full report

December has proved to be an outstanding month again for fishing the Islamorada area. We have been catching Mahi of all sizes, Sailfish, Kingfish, Tuna, Mutton Snapper, Yellowtail, and other reef fish. The weather has been warmer than previous Decembers; however the fishing has been just as good as any other. We are looking forward to more of the same great fishing through January. With each approaching ...full report

Hello everyone, This is the first post....so I hope I get it right!! The bait is thick on the patch reefs and the Mutton Snapper are going good. Many folks fish in deep water, me too sometimes, but the last couple of weeks I been fishing the patches in less than ten foot of water. Been doing good, real good as a mater of fact. The wind has been up a lot and I do not like to take a lickin ...full report

Fishing the edge of the reef is where it is happening. From the sand to 250 feet of water, many fish are moving down the edge of the reef. Mostly Mahi, Kingfish, and Sailfish are right behind the Baitfish that are migrating south for the winter. This cold front has certainly moved more fish onto the Islamorada area wrecks, and reefs. Many Kingfish, and Sailfish have been caught slow trolling with ...full report

Off-shore around the Hump there has been a lot of Blackfin Tuna, Barracudas, Sharks, and some Wahoo. The Tuna have been on the 409, and Islamorada Hump in amazing numbers. The Tuna vary in size from day to day. There are 30 pound Tunas and 3 pound Tunas you really never know how big the bite is going to be. Most of the bigger Tunas have been caught fishing deeper near the bottom with live bait and ...full report

Off-shore around the Hump there has been a lot of Blackfin Tuna. The Tuna are on the 409 and Islamorada Hump in great numbers. The size of the Tuna may vary from day to day. There are 30 pound Tunas and 3 pound Tunas, you really never know how big the bite is going to be. Most of the bigger Tunas have been caught further down on live bait and on vertical jigs. Along with the Tuna there have been ...full report

Mahi, Tuna, Billfish Mahi are plentiful. Tuna are going nuts, lots of them at the hump. We are catching some Billfish along with the Mahi. Overall, all fishing is very good. Most of the Mahi are around the 1000 foot deep area and are in good size schools. Captain Rick Sea Horse Charters 305-664-5020 seahorsecaptrick@yahoo.com www.floridakeysfishing-charters.com ...full report

Fishing off-shore from Islamorada has been exceptional. We have caught a lot of Mahi everyday of all sizes, Schoolies, Heavy lifters, Gaffers, Teenagers, Slammers, and Slobs. Great fun and full fish boxes at the end of the day. Many Mahi have been caught close to the edge of the reef. However their average size has not been as big as the fish caught further off-shore. Twenty miles or more has been ...full report

The sport fishing capitol of the world is living up to its reputation every day. The Whale Harbor charter boats have been catching lots of Mahi, Blackfin Tuna, Wahoo, and occasional Billfish. The Mahi have been migrating through on a very consistent basis. Every day the Mahi have been found in different depths of water and distances from the edge of the reef. Some days have been easier than others ...full report

June 17 Today we had to run to Miami in the afternoon around 3pm because we had a fishing tournament on Friday morning so our three boats the Lady Pamela 1, 3 and 4 along with two other Fort Lauderdale charter boats headed down that afternoon on the way down we all stop an caught live bait like Cigar Minnow and Threadfin Herring with some small Blue Runners mixed in there. Once catching all this live ...full report

The Mahi are here and easy to catch just outside the reef and beyond. Mahi are a great sport fish commonly known as Dolphin. They are great to eat and a lot of fun to catch. If you are looking for a great time to go fishing now is the time here in Islamorada. Big Mahi and schooling size are migrating through our area. Live bait or dead bait it really does not matter when you find them in great ...full report

Transition month in the Keys, March brings amazing fishing offshore and on the edge of reef. The edge of the reef is producing Yellowtail Snapper, Mutton Snapper, Cero Mackerel, Cobia, and Sailfish. Plenty of Grouper also; however the government won’t let you keep them! Off-Shore there has been a lot of nice Blackfin Tuna being caught. The Tunas have been found in the early morning hours along ...full report

Islamorada lives up to it’s reputation of surprises. Sailfish, Kingfish, Tuna, Wahoo, Mahi, and others fish continue to pop up. Customers and friends ask me most every morning, "what are we going to catch?" I often explain it is impossible to know. We catch all kinds of fish daily. Some days we catch, Sailfish, Kingfish, Wahoo, Tunas, Amberjacks, Muttons, and Yellow Tail. Some days ...full report

Sailfish are moving down the edge of the reef and we are catching them. Most of the Sailfish have been caught on live bait. Some of the best choices of bait have been live Ballyhoo, Cigar Minnows, and Blue Runners. Most of these baits are slowly trolled on the surface to entice a strike. On windy days the kite method has been used with great results. Common baits used on a kite rig are live Google-Eyes, ...full report

Sailfish are moving down the edge of the reef and we are catching them. Most of the Sailfish have been caught on live bait. Some of the best choices of bait have been live Ballyhoo, Cigar Minnows, and Blue Runners. Most of these baits are slowly trolled on the surface to entice a strike. On windy days the kite method has been used with great results. Common baits used on a kite rig are live Google-Eyes, ...full report

Still the same report. Sailfish are the fish to go after in the Islamorada area. We are catching Sailfish everyday on the edge of the reef and offshore. Most of them are caught on live Ballyhoo, Cigar Minnow, Google-Eyes, and Blue Runners. We are also catching Kingfish, Blackfin Tuna, Wahoo, Mutton Snapper, and some Mahi. Sport fishing in our area is hard to beat come down and experience our great ...full report

More Sailfish are still the fish to go after in the Islamorada area. We are catching Sailfish everyday on the edge of the reef and offshore. Most of them are caught on live Ballyhoo, Cigar Minnow, Google-Eyes, and Blue Runners. We are also catching Kingfish, Blackfin Tuna, Wahoo, Mutton Snapper, and some Mahi. Sport fishing in our area is hard to beat come down and experience our great fishing ...full report

Sea Horse50lbs Sailfish12/12/10 IslamoradaIslamorada Sailfish action today was outstanding. Over a hundred Sailfish were caught and released in the Islamorada area today by charter, tournament, and recreational boats. This is the fishing everyone dreams of. Most fish were caught on live bait sow trolling and on kite rigs. Captain Rick Rodriguez Sea Horse Charters 305-664-5020 seahorsecaptrick@yahoo.com www.floridakeysfishing-charters.com ...full report

Islamorada fishing has been pretty good this October with ideal conditions for several different species! A few of the days we've had some rain and overcast skies which has been great for Bonefish on the ocean side flats. Big schools of fish pushing through, and some large ones. Sight fishing is not very easy, but stake-up fishing is something you can do with the high water and glare to catch ...full report

It's not all about the lobster mini-season this week down here, we have Florida Keys fishing! I fished a full day in the backcountry on 7/28/11 and had a wonderful time. The wind was howling almost 20 knots most the day - very unusual for July! Though it kept the heat & sweat down for the most part, which was a welcome change. With thousands of people in the water snorkeling and diving looking ...full report

I had the pleasure of fishing former catcher of the Atlanta Braves, Greg Olsen and family Robbie & Racheal, last Sunday. It was a beautiful day, started out fairly calm with a light breeze and flat water. We ran in the backcountry and fished a bay area catching a mix of Ladyfish, Trout, Snapper, and a few small Sharks. We anchored up for a bit and netted some Ballyhoo for some bigger ladies and ...full report

I fished Jim & Gwen Johnson today for a great day fishing in Islamorada. They fished with me last winter when it was very cold so thought they'd give it a try in the spring when it was warmer!!! We ran 18 or so miles into the everglades national park and fished some channels back there, catching plenty of Trout, Ladyfish, Jacks, and of course Catfish! Good action pretty much non-stop! They stayed ...full report

The Proctor family fished with Capt. Nick & I this weekend, for some offshore and backcountry action. They fished aboard the "BnM" on Friday for a full day. Fishing was kind of tough, Sailfish did not cooperate, nor the King Macs, or even the Yellowtails on the reef! However, they did catch a nice 40 lb Cobia out of the kite while Sailfishing! They also dropped on a hole and caught a huge ...full report

I fished with my father, Capt. Richard Stanczyk Sr., and friend Capt. Dave Peck from North Carolina down here for the winter today for some Florida Keys Fishing. We fished some channels between Islamorada and Flamingo in the morning, got a late start around 8:30, but still had some good falling tide. Caught plenty of Seatrout, some Ladyfish, and a couple good Pompano for dinner. After hitting a ...full report

I had Richard Arluck and his family out, Mike and Dave, on Saturday 1/30/11. They were visiting down from Miami and wanted some action and good stuff to eat! They headed back towards the cape area around 8:00 and arrived around 9:30. The tide had just stopped falling and they fished a deep area around the shoreline. Soon as the tide started trickling in, they were catching plenty of Black Drum, ...full report

Capt. Rick Stanczyk and Capt. Jim Willcox had Ed Forrester and his party in the backcountry for some Florida Keys fishing on 1/23/11. It was a freezing cold morning being in the high 40s the night before, and very windy. We took the long, smoother ride back towards Flamingo through some really low water. We fished some deeper channels and creeks in the back and picked away at a handful of Redfish, ...full report

Galen Edie & his family(Galen,Nick, Chris & Sean) Bud & Mary's Florida Keys Fishing regulars for 20 years,rung in the new year fishing with Capt Jim Willcox & Ken Cohan on Dec 31st & Jan 1st. Day one was filled with plenty of Trout & a full limit of Snappers for all 5 anglers. Day two the boats split up & fished two different areas. Both boats caught double digit Redfish, Black Drum, Sheepshead, ...full report

On Tuesday 12/21/10, super low tides piled the Reds up in the Cape Sable area for some serious Everglades fishing. Father & son Doug & Ryan Singleton from Michigan caught over 30 Reds in the 16 inch range, two 27 inchers , & too many Trout to count. All of the fish were released! All in all, a great day and a dream Florida Fishing Vacation for father and son! Capt. Jim Willcox Bud n' Mary's ...full report

The boys of the BnM crew out of Bud N' Mary's Fishing Marina had a great day swordfishing on 11/17/10. They boated 7 daytime Broadbill Swordfish, up to 237 lbs! These guys deep dropped in 1500-2000' of water, using conventional 80 wides loaded with 80 lb braid and 300 lb leader. The Stanczyk family helped pioneer the art of daytime fishing swords in Florida over the last decade, catching ...full report